Padilla Bay | Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist

My husband and I have lived in Bow since 2002, but today I found a trail just fifteen minutes from us that I’ve never been on before. I guess I’ve known it was there – I’ve driven by it (and over it!) for years – but I never took the time to actually check it out until today.

After my walk on the Padilla Dike Trail this morning (see previous post), I headed back to Bow. But I hadn’t gone far when, on impulse, I pulled into the Breazeale (Padilla Bay) Interpretive Center. I found myself grabbing my camera, and pretty soon I was headed for the path that goes under the Bayview-Edison Road. I’d never been on this path before, and was curious where I’d end up.

I passed apple blossoms and Oregon grape blossoms, and found myself going through a tunnel under the road. At the end of the tunnel there was a platform with a spiral staircase that went down to the beach. I took the staircase down to the shoreline – stopping every now and then to take photos of the herons I could see hanging out in the bay.

It was so peaceful on the beach. I was the only person down there. It was just me and the herons, a couple seagulls, and a crow or two. It was lovely.

Major magic this morning, my friends!

This morning’s message from the Cosmos told me to take a walk on the Padilla Dike Trail. I have come to trust this Cosmic voice when I hear it – it always seems to lead me to the exactly right place I need to be. So I grabbed my camera and headed out to the trail.

Sometimes I just walk as far as the shed, but this time the voice told me to go to the cluster of benches about half-way down the trail. So I did that. And as I was looking out at the water, I saw a little head bob up and then disappear. I recognized what I was looking at right away – an otter! I LOVE otters! Transfixed, I waited for the head to surface again – and then I saw a whole family of otters was out there – I think I counted four of them! They moved towards me through the water – diving and rising – until they were right in front of me! One of them emerged from the water, happily chomping on a fish. Every now and then one of them would swim close to me and look at me – curious what I was all about. I was charmed.

I yelled to a man coming down the trail, “Otters!” And he came over to join me in the otter magic. Because it was a little cold this morning, I had thrown on my knitted pink hat (dating back to 2017) before I’d started on my walk. Now the man smiled down at me and told me he liked my hat. I asked him if he knew when I’d first worn this, and he nodded his head, and said he did. And this led to a conversation about politics – but it wasn’t one of those hopeless, depressing conversations about politics – this conversation was full of humor and hope.

The man, Pat, was a Vietnam vet, and he talked a bit about that. Then I saw he was wearing a jacket with a mountain logo on it, and I asked him if he was a climber. I learned he’d climbed Denali when he and his family had lived in Alaska, and I told him I’d climbed Rainier, Baker, Adams, and Hood in my younger days. And THEN I saw he was wearing a WSU cap, and he told me his daughter had gone to school there, and he was a Coug now. I told him my son and I had both gone there, too.

By this time the little family of otters had swum away, and I could see them scampering on the shore of the island not far out in the bay. I pointed them out to Pat, and we watched them for a little longer.

I asked Pat if I could take his photo – it would probably end up on FB, I told him, and asked him if that was okay. Pat told me he wasn’t on FB, but his wife was – and he’d let her find him there.

After Pat and I parted, I began my walk back to my car – I think I was smiling the whole way. I was so grateful to have seen the otters this morning. Magic!

The magic wasn’t done, yet, though. I discovered a whole ‘nother place I’d never been before – but I’ll put that in the next post.
(Photos by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)